News
Curriculum Committee Recommends Bluebook
Posted by Steve Ngo on Mar 22, 2004, 11:30
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To: Academic Dean Leo Martinez
LW&R Director Toni Young
From Curriculum Committee
Re: ALWD vs. Bluebook
Date: February 20, 2004
cc: Steve Ngo, ASUCH
Over the past year, students have raised concerns over the use of the ALWD citation guide in the LW&R program. At the Academic Dean’s request, the curriculum committee undertook to examine the issue.
The committee’s conclusions can be stated briefly. The faculty and student members of the committee feel strongly that the LW&R program should prepare students to cite in conformity with the Bluebook, because the Bluebook is accepted as authoritative in the federal and California state courts, as well as in the profession generally. This conclusion was shared by the vast majority of the students who contacted the committee, and by all of the members of the faculty who expressed an opinion.
Under the faculty’s rules of organization, the curriculum committee’s role is limited to reviewing substantial changes in course content. With regard to the content of the LW&R course, it is the Committee’s opinion that by the end of the first year, students should be able to cite legal authority in a way that conforms with the Bluebook’s rules.
Beyond this, it is the Committee’s opinion that decisions about the best method for achieving a course’s goals are best determined by instructor – in this case, the Director of the Legal Writing Program – under the supervision of the Academic Dean. Thus, the committee does not intend to express any view as to the value of the ALWD Citation Manual as a tool for teaching citation. Similarly, the committee understands that a new edition of the Bluebook is due out in September, and that this – along with budgetary concerns – has an impact on how the legal writing and research curriculum will be structured. How these concerns can best be managed the committee leaves to the discretion of the Director and the Academic Dean.
An quick count of the emails we received had about four students in favor of ALWD, with more than 60 favoring instruction in and using the Bluebook. The emails, both pro and con, were thoughtful – and often quite detailed – analyses of the two system’s pros and cons, and the Committee found them extremely helpful.
Although, it should be noted that the opinion that ALWD is easier to use and to learn from was not universally shared by the students.
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